Chris Faytok/The Star-LedgerJohn Madden (left) and Colin White (middle) take the puck from Hurricanes center Eric Staal during Game 1.

NOTEBOOK

The Devils offense was relentless in Game 1 Wednesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes. So was their defense.

Familiar faces Jay Pandolfo and John Madden, along with linemate Brendan Shanahan, did an exceptional job shutting down the big line of Eric Staal, Tuomo Ruutu and Erik Cole.

"They have a history," coach Brent Sutter said of Madden and Pandolfo. "That's been John and Pando's makeup. I think Shanny takes a lot of pride in playing well as far as that role."

The key?

"We didn't give their top players too much time with the puck," Pandolfo said.

Madden added: "The key is awareness, knowing where they are and what they're going to do."

Martin Brodeur had a shutout until Ray Whitney's goal 9:22 into the third period. It would have been the 23rd playoff shutout of his career and would have tied Patrick Roy's NHL record.

"It's playoff wins. That's what it's all about," Brodeur said. "Shutouts are nice, but I only think about that at the end of the game."

The Devils killed off both Carolina power plays. However, their own power play went 0-for-4.

"I look at our power play pretty positively," Sutter said. "We created something on it and yet never scored on it. We have every right to feel good about our power play. Cam Ward made some big saves."

Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice on the Devils: "They played very well. They didn't really have any elements to their game they weren't successful at. They skated very well. We were a little jittery coming out of the gate, but you expect that to wear off, and we just never seemed to get untracked.

"On the upside, we've got a lot of areas to get better at."

Shanahan was a 19-year-old rookie when the Devils made the playoffs for the first time in 1988 and defeated the Islanders in the opening round.

"You didn't realize it at the time, but looking back you realize how young we all were," Shanahan said. "We won the first series purely on energy and enthusiasm.

"The Islanders were not willing to go to the places we were willing to go to competitively at that time. They had been through so many playoff wars, and for us the first round was like the Stanley Cup Finals."

The Islanders had a forward named Brent Sutter, who scored the winning overtime goal in Game 4 at the Meadowlands on April 10, 1988. Shanahan does not remember facing his current coach in that series.

"I think I only played in half the games in the first round. I remember Denis Potvin didn't play Game 6," Shanahan said.

And what about this Devils team?

"Right off the bat we're playing against one of the hottest teams in the NHL the last month," Shanahan said of the Hurricanes. "I think that's good. I don't think you can go into the playoffs hoping to get certain opponents or dodging certain teams. You've got to play the best and beat the best.

"I think the deeper you go in the playoffs the safer it is for the better teams. Your depth and ability surfaces. The first round is dangerous. Doesn't matter if you're the first seed or the eighth seed. There are no bad teams in the playoffs anymore."

Asked if he felt Devils GM Lou Lamoriello signed him for this time of year, Shanahan said: "Obviously everything Lou does with the Devils -- not just me, every player he brings in whether it was me in January or Brian Rolston in July -- anything he does on any date is done for this time of year. He doesn't build a team here he thinks will be good from October to the beginning of April. He tries to build a team he thinks will be good in the playoffs."

Brodeur usually goes to a movie the day or night before a playoff game, but not Tuesday night.

"I didn't go yesterday. We had meetings and I ran out of time," he said. "It was a boring night. It made me remember why I go to movies."